If We Could Hear Them Singing

BELLS ACROSS THE SNOWO Christmas, merry Christmas,Is it really come again,With its memories and greetings,With its joy and with its pain!There’s a minor in the carolAnd a shadow in the light,And a spray of cypress twiningWith the holly wreath tonight.And the hush is never brokenBy laughter light and low,As we listen in the starlightTo the …

Continue reading If We Could Hear Them Singing

The Fear of Forgetting

Yes, it's normal. We are terrified of forgetting them. Afraid that if we let go of that horrible moment when our child died, that it will be like they didn't exist at all. The pain is tremendous, but early in our grief we can't seem to help wanting to stay right there in the past …

Continue reading The Fear of Forgetting

Holiday Haiku

Memories linger Drift around and settle down  In an empty chair Photo: Josef Nolywaika Precious Memories - Lyrics by J.B.F. Wright Precious memories, unseen angels, Sent from somewhere to my soul; How they linger, ever near me, And the sacred past unfold. Chorus: Precious memories, how they linger, How they ever flood my soul; In …

Continue reading Holiday Haiku

Gone Fishing

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Genesis 1:28  The Fishing Photos When our children were …

Continue reading Gone Fishing

Campfire in the snow

Forgetting

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; Isaiah 49:15-16 There are things about Hans I will never forget for as long as …

Continue reading Forgetting

Baubles & Trinkets

Our last Christmas tree with Hans was cut in mid-December 2015.  Usually, the spruces stay fresh and last well into January, sometimes sprouting new growth and even shedding pollen in the house.  Manfred ordinarily cuts the tree and the children haul it home on a sled.  But this time last year, Manfred’s knee was giving …

Continue reading Baubles & Trinkets

Four

It is a Sunday afternoon in summer.  The first summer without Hans.  Manfred and Noah are three hundred miles away on a job in Anchorage.   Olivia, Josef and I are back home after church and have eaten our spaghetti, with ice cream for dessert.   Olivia leaves for work and Josef hops on his bike.   I …

Continue reading Four